The Psychological Mystique

Stewart Justman

The Psychological Mystique weighs the extraordinary influence of psychology on culture, traces the therapeutic model to its roots, and examines the connection between psychology and the marketing of goods and ideas. Justman finds that psychology's influence has saturated contemporary life both public and private. Thoughtful and at times sardonic, this study links psychology both to the mass production of goods and the propagation of clichés.

About the Author

Stewart Justman is a professor in the Liberal Studies Program at the University of Montana. He is the author of Fool's Paradise: The Unreal World of Pop Psychology (Ivan R. Dee, 2005), Seeds of Mortality (Ivan R. Dee, 2003), and The Springs of Liberty (1999) and The Psychological Mystique (1998), both published by Northwestern University Press. He is the recipient of the 2004 PEN Award for the Art of the Essay.

Reviews

"Erudite, clear, and hard-hitting, this is consciousness-raising in the best sense by a scholar versed in literature, history, and philosophy whose thematic integration of diverse materials is dazzling." --Library Journal